International Gas Union News

Supplies to U.S. liquefied natural gas export plants reached near record levels over the weekend as vessels docked for loading at all seven export terminals for the first time, according to Refinitiv.Venture Global received permission on Friday from federal energy regulators to load LNG on the first commissioning vessel at its Calcasieu Pass export plant in Louisiana. The Yiannis tanker will likely be the first vessel to pick up a cargo from the facility, according to data from Refinitiv.On Saturday…

The global search for lower carbon forms of energy and demand for cost-effective ways to serve power demand in emerging markets and remote locations is driving interest in floating storage and regasification units (FSRU).FSRUs are a faster and more flexible way to import natural gas to power-constrained places, so demand for the units is increasing and the business case for owning them is growing stronger.Their model for supplying energy and transport fuel is historically well proven: they offer faster development timelines and lower initial capital costs compared to onshore regasification…

U.S. shipments of liquefied natural gas are expected to fall to their lowest level in six months in April, after a leading U.S. supplier shut units for maintenance at a time when a glut of supply has driven some worldwide prices to near three-year lows.Based on exports through April 10, the United States is on track to sell roughly 91.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of natural gas as LNG, which would be the lowest since October. That compares with an estimated record 139.8 bcfd shipped in March…

Flex LNG, a liquefied natural gas shipping company and part of the nautical empire of Norwegian billionaire John Fredriksen, has dropped its interest in operating floating regasification units due to project failures and low returns. Floating Storage Regasification Units (FSRUs) have been lauded by analysts as transformative for the LNG industry by opening up emerging markets to supplies as the vessels are cheaper to build than the onshore infrastructure normally needed to receive the super-cooled gas that is transported by ship.

President Vladimir Putin on Friday launched the first loading of liquefied natural gas at the Novatek-led Yamal LNG project in the Arctic, which will further expand Russia's global energy reach. The Yamal project, which required investments of $27 billion, will allow Russia to fulfil a plan to double its share of the global LNG market by 2020 from around 4 percent now. The LNG was loaded onto the ice class tanker "Christophe de Margerie", named after the former head of France's energy major Total, who died in a plane crash in Moscow in 2014. Total holds a 20 percent stake in Yamal LNG. "The loadings will be carried out all year round... "Russia can and should get a decent stake in the market," he told the attendees, who included Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih.

BP, Eni, ExxonMobil, Repsol, Shell, Statoil, Total and Wintershall have committed to further reduce methane emissions from the natural gas assets they operate around the world. The energy companies also agreed to encourage others across the natural gas value chain – from production to the final consumer – to do the same. The commitment was made as part of wider efforts by the global energy industry to ensure that natural gas continues to play a critical role in helping meet future energy demand while addressing climate change. Since natural gas consists mainly of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, its role in the transition to a low-carbon future will be influenced by the extent to which methane emissions are reduced.

Russian gas producer Novatek aims to topple Qatar as the world's biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas as it gets closer to completing its first LNG project, a top executive said, batting away concerns about U.S. sanctions on the sector. The country's largest non-state gas producer is expected to start exporting LNG from the first phase of the Yamal project, situated far above the Arctic circle, towards the end of this year and may bring forward its final stage by six months, CFO Mark Gyetvay said.

Oslo-listed Flex LNG has signed contracts to buy six new liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels for its fleet by 2019, as it bets on increasing fuel demand from Britain and other countries, its chief executive told Reuters. The gas shipping company said earlier this year it was considering buying the six vessels, each with around 170,000 cubic metres of capacity, subject to securing funding for the $1.2 billion transaction. Geveran Trading, the private investment vehicle of billionaire shipping tycoon John Fredriksen…

The world's top producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are investing in ship-fuelling operations, floating import terminals and power plants to open new markets and keep from drowning in a fuel surplus expected to last into the next decade. Companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, Total and Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Bhd are scrambling to create demand as cheap coal and cleaner wind and solar power threaten to curb growth in the 250 million-tonnes-a-year LNG market. LNG suppliers have been put in a tough spot as demand from the world's top importers of the past few decades, Japan and South Korea, has declined due to slowing economies, more efficient use of power, and switches to coal and renewables.

Qatar has retained the crown of the biggest exporters of natural gas and the biggest exporter of liquid gas or LNG in the world, reports The Peninsula. The country exported nearly 77 million tonnes (MT) of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in 2014 which was approximately one-third of global supply, according to International Gas Union report. Malaysia and Australia — the world’s second and third largest LNG producers respectively — saw LNG exports reach an all time high. In 2014, Malaysia exported around 25MT LNG while Australia exported 23MT. Nigeria was the fourth largest exporter providing around 19MT to the market. Overall, LNG trade globally reached around 241MT in 2014, a 4.3MT increase over 2013 levels, added the report.

According to the latest research from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), floating LNG (FLNG) regasification is being used to meet rising natural gas demand in smaller markets. Floating regasification is a flexible, cost-effective way to receive and process shipments of LNG. It is increasingly being used to meet natural gas demand in smaller markets, or as a temporary solution until onshore regasification facilities are built. Of four countries planning to begin importing LNG in 2015, three of them—Pakistan, Jordan, and Egypt—have chosen to do so using floating regasification rather than building full-scale onshore regasification facilities.

Destination clauses on contracts for liquefied natural gas (LNG)shipments will soon be a thing of the past because of the shale revolution in the United States, the head of the International Gas Union said in an interview. Japan and other buyers of LNG have long complained that the destination clauses on multiple-year term contracts place an unfair restriction on trade of the fuel. Those objections have been rebuffed by producers up until recently, but that is changing as the United States is on the verge of becoming a gas exporter. The conversion of U.S. sites formerly planned as import terminals into liquefaction plants - after its…

Utrapol, active in the river, offshore supply & ocean transport business appoint Ojea Quintana to its Board of Directors. Eduardo Ojea Quintana is currently the President of the Board of Directors of Transportadora de Gas del Norte S.A. directors of several other energy companies in South America. Regulatory Activity. He also represented Argentina on the Executive Committee for the International Gas Union. Additionally, at the meeting the following proposals were approved and adopted: 1) the approval of the audited financial statements and the Report of the Auditors thereon for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, 2) the re-election of the six existing directors of the Company…